In the design and construction of printed circuit boards (PCBs), it is often desirable to sense and measure the intensity or direction (or both) of a magnetic field or of a component of a magnetic field in a particular direction. A device capable of sensing and measuring the magnetic field or a component of a magnetic field is a magnetometer. A magnetometer can be used to sense and measure the intensity of a component of a magnetic field along a particular dimension, such as the horizontal or vertical plane of a PCB. A horizontal-intensity magnetometer and a vertical-intensity magnetometer are typically used to sense and measure the magnetic field along the horizontal and vertical plane, respectively, of a PCB.
In the case where the PCB is flexible to allow positioning of the circuitry in a particularly shaped housing of an electronic device, it is preferred to use a magnetic field sensing device capable of sensing the magnetic field in more than one axis or dimension. Further, a magnetic field sensing device capable of sensing the magnetic field in more than one axis or dimension is also preferred when one or more additional PCBs, i.e., daughterboards, are electrically attached to a main PCB, i.e., motherboard, to allow increased functionality.
Attachment of daughterboards to motherboards is typically done using a connector so that the electrical configuration can be changed by replacing a daughterboard with another type. Permanent attachment of a daughterboard to a motherboard is sometimes desirable and this is generally achieved by conventional surface mount soldering techniques.
Accordingly, a need exists for a device capable of sensing and measuring a magnetic field along multiple axes. A need further exists for methods of fabricating the device capable of sensing and measuring the magnetic field along multiple axes.